Not a PR but a lot of fun!

I got to run with my friend Pam who was trying to qualify for Boston.  She needed a 3:55 run to qualify and finished with a 3:49.  I had paced with her for the first 20 miles and when it was clear she had a nice cushion and I was still full of energy I dropped the hammer on the last 6 miles and finished just ahead of the 3:45 pacer.

The weather was spectacular and I would recommend the Mohawk Mid Hudson run from Schenectady to Albany.  Mostly downhill and mostly on a bike path...but in October the weather was a brisk 50's and overcast.  Had there been a slight rain it would have been ideal for a PR.

I had been training for a 3:45 finish so I felt super happy with my finish.  There was only a brief point in which I started to feel a little overheated around mile 22 that I took off my shirt to cool down a bit more.  But other wise it was a strong finish and fun to share with our Albany friends.

I had started the morning with Pam and her wife Rachel and the excitement of the day was a lot of fun.  Rachel was doing her first marathon and finished at 3:57!  I'm so jealous...but really proud of them.  Often I do training runs with them and they are great training partners.

My recovery was minimal.  No pain and only slightly sore in the inner quads.  That's a great sign that I am improving technique and adjusting my fuel/hydration strategy to better fit my needs.  I changed to eating 2 sports beans at every mile marker and taking 2 salt tabs every 3 miles.  Only briefly did I get fuzzy mouth, but that went away shortly after salting and drinking a bit more.  All in all a great run and a great prep for NYC Marathon a month away.

http://www.albanyrunningexchange.org/results/myrunner.php?eid=6150&bib=1423

I thought this was going to be easy...and it was, until it became really hard.

The premise was a 3000 ft decent from the mountains east of SLC with that last few miles flat in the city streets starting at 5:30am.  I figured I would be finished by 9:30am which is an ideal time to finish, especially in the desert, but it got hot quick and a different kind of heat than I was prepared for.

The start was deceptively easy.  Really easy.  I was barely in the bottom of my heart zone and running at 1:30 faster /min pace.  Somewhere between 7:30 and 7:15 min/mile for the first 10 miles or so.  Really unbelievable.  What I thought was no effort because I was barely breaking a sweat, and my heart rate was so reasonable.  It wasn't until around mile 15 that I realized I was in trouble.

The dry heat was deceiving me to think I was cool, but in actuality my core temperature was rising faster than I was aware and I was loosing more water than I realized.  At around mile 15 I started trying to cool myself down with pouring water on me and that's when I noticed how quickly I was dry again...and I should have been sopping wet.  By mile 18 I was starting to feel fatigued and at mile 20 the heat of the city streets and being on flat roads caught up to me and I felt awful.  I had to stop running to keep from getting too dizzy and nauseous.

At every water stop I was dousing myself and if they had I hose I was spraying myself down.  I had to stop running several times.  Probably close to 15 minutes worth of walking between mile 20 and mile 26 just to keep from being carried off the course.

That last stretch in I rallied a bit and had a good show, but after crossing the finish I rolled into the grass and proceeded to throw up.  First time being carried into the med tent.  They iced me down and in a few minutes I felt fine again.

I had such high expectations for crushing my last pr that I got carried away and didn't stick to my pace plan.  I was on target with my heart rate plan, but didn't care much for the pace.  Had I been more strategic and kept my pace plan, I would have still crushed my last pr and felt much better.

Something for next time.

As you can see from my time, it wasn't a PR.  It was a game of attrition.  Whoever could loose the least amount of salt survived.  The race was cancelled at about 4 hours in due to extreme weather conditions: heat and humidity.

I knew from the beginning something was amiss as my heart rate was much higher than expected for as slow as start I was having.  Then between mile 1 and 2 I lost my water bottle in the mass of people taking a corner.  It was too much of a safety issue to try and turn around to get it so I pressed on knowing I'd have to adjust my hydration approach.

By mile 6 I was drenched in sweat and realized I would need to not only change my approach to running this race, but also my expectations. Instead of being concerned about pace and heart rate, I just focused on heart rate.   Since my body was working so hard just to stay cool, my heart was working harder and thus to stay in my heart rate zone, I had to tone everything down.  Plus I was changing my electrolyte plan as well.  Instead of taking 2 salt tablets every four miles, I was taking one tablet every time I passed a water station.

The heat was brutal but it was the humidity that kept it miserable.  To slow down was worse that staying moving because at least when you were moving you had a bit of a breeze to help evaporate some of the sweat off.

Towards the end, I was hearing emergency vehicle sirens way too frequently to know this race was going to continue.  I was seeing someone on the sidelines either laying flat out on the ground stretching or gimping along with cramps.  My suspicion was all electrolyte / dehydration issues.

By mile 23, just after getting on the bike path (home stretch), race officials canceled the race due to extreme conditions.  Though they told everyone to stop running and catch a bus, I had done my planning accordingly and was able to keep going.  Not to mention it would have been faster for me to finish by moving forward than to have had to walk back to the bus pickup and be on a hot bus for the ride back.

All in all, it was  good experience for dealing with extreme heat and able to adjust expectations and performance.  I lost an estimated 10 pounds on this race, but it was hard to say considering I immediately drank a container of coconut water, fizzy soda, and fruit juice in the car ride back and then two glasses of orange juice and some water upon arriving back at my friend's place.  Fortunately I did not suffer from dehydration...just one lost water bottle.

PS.  One of my other friends who was running the half portion ended up in the medical tent from passing out on course.  It was a rough day.

This was a perfect storm of a run.  I had trained well, rested well, and the weather was low 50's with light rain in the beginning with a nice shower the last few miles.

I had made an ambitious plan of a heart rate calculation pace for a 3:45 marathon and marked out on a map where I should be at heart rate and pace at various places along the route.  At every point I was either below my heart rate or having a faster pace.  With each success the next success became more encouraging until I realized not only was I on pace to make a 3:45 marathon, but I had a lot left in my tank....a lot.  I averaged a heart rate of 150beat/min when I should have been much closer to 160.  So the last few miles i just opened up and just kept pushing each mile extra trying to get closer to 160 b/m.

In the end, not only did I coming in at 3:44 but felt like I had another 5 miles at the current pace and was so ecstatic!

Great race.  I'm really hopeful for training with the next race.

I came in 35th place!  About an hour slower than first place at this race.  I had not expected to do well considering since the last race I have been overwhelmed with moving houses and renting out space to some friends.  I probably got only 40% of the runs in that I should have.  Guess that says a lot for being well rested.

I targeted a plan to run 3:59 based off of heart rate effort and I came in 1 minute faster.  I'd say that was a bull's eye.  Doesn't mean I'm going to slack off for next race, just gives me less to be anxious about if I miss some runs.

Partly to blame for the lack of running in the training was starting off too hard after my last marathon in December.  I had come back from that Trail Marathon feeling super charged (I came in faster than I expected and placed 17th out of 51 finishers).  With that over confidence, I over did it on some interval training trying to do 800 Yassos with a 3:30 split.  I should have been at 3:50....which is what I will do this time around.  From the extra effort I managed to really tweak out my ankle which took two weeks off to let fully heal (which it did).

A major highlight of this run was visiting with my long time neighbor Shirley Shoifet and her daughter's familiy the Yaffes in Houston Texas.  Wayne Yaffe ran a half marathon with me (the course was two loops for full) even though he was still nursing a calf injury.

The weather was warmer than I was interested in, but there was cloud cover for some of the day.  Glad to have Texas off my list, though I would definitely go back for the Houston City marathon and to visit with the Yaffe's again.

Here's a link to the results (top 20%):
http://www.runhoustontiming.net/race_result/1454384523_5387774_Marathon%20Overall.htm

My first trail marathon.  I was expecting to come in at 5 hours and managed to squeak in at 4:58!  Phew.  It was closer to being called a mud run than a trail run.  There was a half mile section that had turned to mud after the first lap (there were four laps) and made for a very unpleasant trudge.

Being my first trail run, I didn't quite know what to expect other than I had heard to add an hour to your marathon time.  So I was expecting 5 hours.  I had done a little trail training and saw how my 9:30 pace on the road turned into and 11:30 pace in the woods.  2 extra minutes/mile x 26 miles comes close to an extra hour of running.

It was very hilly and scenic.  There was very little flat, either running up hill or down hill which takes it's toll.  I was expecting to be much more sorer in my quads than it turned out to be.  I was very sore in my hamstrings, which means I was really working the legs right as they should have been for the marathon and my hip flexors didn't say a peep so I am very pleased with that aspect.  Knowing what I know now of a trail run, I'll train differently next time.  More strength training for the hamstrings and core.

The first lap (just over 6 miles) was really fun because of all the folks on the trail and it was all new and exciting.  The second lap was great too because it had thinned out and now started passing the slow half and full marathon runners.  The third lap sucked because the mud was unavoidable, few people out on the trails, and you knew there was still one more lap to go.  Fourth lap after the mud was great.  You knew it was the home stretch, was very familiar with the course, and you could go for 10 or 20 minutes at a stretch without seeing anyone, just enjoying running in the woods.

Even though the running was fun, the best part was spending time with my circus friends.  I stayed with Theresa Servici Bartlow and got to see the show.  Then immediately after the marathon we drove 3 hours to visit with Michael Frum in West Virginia.  So much driving, but some much fun.  I'd do it all again.

Here's a link to the results (top 33%):
http://www.buckeye-timing.com/Results/2015/12-06-TRAIL/index.html

NEW PR!!!!  I smashed my last PR by 19 minutes.  Unbelievable!  I felt so great the entire run.  Goes to show what some focused training, great weather, and a flat course can provide.

The only real difference between this run and the last one was I started swim lessons.  I am a terrible swimmer. 25 meters and not only am I out of breath, I'm usually contemplating getting out of the water.  But with swim lessons, the coach has me doing laps of various strokes and intensities for 45 minutes.  There is no other workout I do that is this intense.  My heart is pounding out of my chest the whole time.  Afterwards I usually go for an hour run and it feels soooo easy...almost like a reward.

So where does this put me in the timing line up of Masechtot?  On 10/11/2015 the Daf Yomi cycle was in Nazir (#17) and this was my 16th marathon.  Just one a way from catching up.  I think once the cycle gets to the Bava's I'll get ahead because those three Masechtot are longer than others.

Here's a link to the results (top 22%):
http://my.racewire.com/results/31822/35572

Ok...slower than expected...true, but a way different marathon than I was expecting.

This was 14 out and backs.  I was thinking since it was a flat course I'd be fine...but it was August, in ME. The weather got hot and muggy and I really didn't give myself a lot of recovery time from the last marathon (oh and I had to sleep in the car because it was raining the night before and not interested in setting up a tent in the rain).  You'd think the 14 laps would be a little mind numbing, but there was a clever system with rubber bands to keep your count straight.  But more importantly, and by design of the course, you are among a highly social and good spirited group of people running both directions on the road.

The social aspect really threw me though it makes perfect sense.  This was race was part of a 7 day series running one marathon in seven states in seven days.  The majority of the folks weren't running for a PR, they were running to be with their other crazy friends also doing this and enjoying the run.  My ambitions of pushing for a PR ended early as I realized it was way more fun to interact with the folks coming and going.

The other really creative and amazing piece of this run was the aide station.  Just one, but stocked with every imaginable kind of treat you'd want, and some that would leave you puzzled that folks would want.  But on top of all that, was a short order cook who would make you something to order, ready for you when you got back from your next lap.  Oh...and the banana smoothies made fresh were worth the few moments it took for them to make.

I'd highly recommend running a series with the Mainly Marathons group, but just be prepared that it is a social event with a high turn out for the group meals (breakfast/dinners) as well as an expectation that you'll be making friends while you run.

So it may look like my time wasn't as good...but in actuality, it was better than I expected.  This course had over 2000ft of elevation!  The accepted metric for elevation vs time is that for every 1000 feet in elevation add 1 mile of time at level...so since my level mile clocks in at 9:30min, I would expect my time to be 19 minutes longer than what I would have done at level.  So given that fudge factor, that puts this race right on track with the other previous races at 4:12.

It was a mostly scenic route  but mostly exposed and very hot.  I was constantly dumping water on me and around mile 18 my insole glue gave way and started bunching up in my shoe.  That sucked.

My friends Ben and Gretchen did the half marathon AND waited around for me along with Nili and Tal.  That was super nice as was the kiddie pool of icewater at the end.

In the end, I would not recommend this race to anyone unless they like things hard.  I broke down crying about half mile away when I finally peaked the last climb.  It was a tough run....but worth it of course.

No injuries and it was a super fun weekend and Gretchen's folks farm near by.

It was hard, hot and hilly....but somehow I maintained my PR of 4 hour 12 minutes.  Best part was being with my friends Rachel and Jamie in Squirrel Hill for Shabbat.

At mile 11 of the run, it split to have those doing the half return to the start and those continuing the full to start going up hill.  Up to that point it was relatively flat; the most inclines was going over the 5 bridges.  But after the split the elevation took a dramatic turn (upwards).

The initial climb into the hills was the steepest and at about a mile in distance.  My hear rate climbed up into my top zone and I couldn't get it to come down much for the rest of the run.  The heat also kicked into gear at this time...started in the 50's and by this time already in the 70's.  Gratefully there were ice buckets with washcloths at every water station and I managed to keep from getting exhausted from the heat.  I was soaking wet by the end, but I kid of was expecting that considering I dump water on me at every water station now.

Aside from finishing a tough hot hilly run still at my PR, I feel even more accomplished that my hipflexors were not sore, nor was there any physical issues other than muscle fatigue soreness.  I've been working on loosening up my left Gluteus Minimus which seemed to help a lot and have been rolling the bottoms of my feet with a lacrosse ball.

I'm really excited to keep up my training as I think once I hit a flat course I could really drop some time.  Unfortunately the next scheduled marathon (MadRiver) is another hilly hot course.  I'm going to view it as a nice workout run for the one after that which is supposed to be flat (Newport RI).